Sustainable Ocean Initiative: “Global dialogue with regional seas organizations and regional fisheries bodies on accelerating progress towards the AICHI biodiversity target”

This workshop was organized at the initiative of the CBD/SOI (Sustainable Ocean Initiative) and UNEP in collaboration with the FAO, the IUCN/CEM/FEG, RFMOS, GOBI (Global Ocean Biodiversity Initiative), and the Government of the Republic of Korea. For the first time the workshop brought together the Regional Seas Organizations (RSOs) such as OSPAR, Barcelona Convention and others,  with the Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) to an open dialogue towards accelerating progress on the implementation of AICHI biodiversity targets 6 and 11, and relevant Sustainable Development Goals, in particular goal 14. The aim of the event was to explore opportunities for strengthening collaboration at the regional scale to accelerate such progress.  FEG as a partner for organizing this event was invited to make a presentation on its experience in enhancing collaboration between the fisheries and conservation bodies. Jake Rice was supposed to do this but in the end he could not make it and Despina Symons made the presentation instead and presented the joint Expert Meeting on Target 6.

Target 6: By 2020 all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.

Target 11: By 2020, at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.